Puducherry Election 2026 Schedule: The Election Commission of India has shared the full schedule for the Puducherry Assembly Election 2026. Officials said the voting will take place in a single phase on April 9, 2026. The counting of votes will happen on May 4, 2026.
Voters will elect members for all 30 constituencies of the 16th Puducherry Legislative Assembly. The Union Territory will go to polls on the same day as several states including Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar spoke about the upcoming elections during a press conference. He said authorities will make sure that voting is conducted peacefully and fairly.
He also warned that the Election Commission will act strictly if anyone tries to cause violence or influence voters with illegal benefits. According to him steps will be taken to make the vote counting process clear and transparent.
Voters and Polling Arrangements
The Election Commission shared details about voters in Puducherry. Around 9.44 lakh people are eligible to vote in this election.
Among them there are about 4.43 lakh male voters and nearly 5 lakh female voters. The list also includes 139 third gender electors.
There are also some very senior voters in the territory. Officials said there are 54 voters who are over 100 years old. Around 6,034 voters are aged 85 and above. There are also 12,204 persons with disabilities who are registered voters.
Young voters will also play an important role. The Election Commission said there are 23,033 first time voters between 18 and 19 years of age. About 1.87 lakh voters are in the 20 to 29 age group. The list also includes 328 service electors.
Voting will take place across 1,099 polling stations. Out of these 610 stations are located in urban areas while 489 are in rural regions. On average around 859 voters are assigned to each polling station. This number falls within the general range of 750 to 900 voters per booth in the five regions going to polls.
The Election Commission also said special arrangements will be made at several polling stations. There will be 30 model polling stations. Around 60 stations will be managed by women staff. Four polling stations will be fully managed by persons with disabilities. Officials confirmed that 100% webcasting will be used at polling stations so the voting process can be monitored.
Election Commission’s Message on Voting
CEC Gyanesh Kumar said that a total of 17.4 crore voters will take part in elections across five assemblies with 824 constituencies.
Across four states and one Union Territory voting will happen at nearly 2.19 lakh polling stations. About 25 lakh election officials will be deployed to manage the process. Kumar said the number of voters taking part in these elections is similar to the population of large countries like Australia, France, South Africa, Germany and Canada.
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He also spoke about the importance of accurate voter lists. According to him pure electoral rolls are the foundation of democracy and it is important that no eligible voter is left out while no ineligible voter is included.
He also shared that representatives from election bodies of 20 countries will visit the poll bound states. They will observe India’s electoral process which he called the “Festival of Democracy”.
What Happened in the 2021 Election
The last Puducherry Assembly election took place in 2021. In that election the National Democratic Alliance won a simple majority in the assembly.
N Rangaswamy from the All India NR Congress became chief minister for the fourth time after the victory.
During that election the NDA won 16 seats and secured about 44.2% vote share. The United Progressive Alliance won eight seats.
Looking at party wise results the All India NR Congress became the largest party with 10 seats and a 26.2% vote share. The DMK won six seats with 18.8% vote share. The BJP also won six seats and secured 13.8% vote share. The Congress won two seats with 15.9% vote share.
NDA Seat Sharing Plan for 2026
Before the upcoming election the AINRC and BJP alliance has already decided its seat sharing plan. Under the agreement the All India NR Congress will contest 16 seats. The BJP led group will contest 14 seats.
The alliance has also said discussions are going on with the AIADMK party. In the previous election five seats were given to the AIADMK from the BJP’s quota.
